You asked for it. You got it! Here’s your chance to review the events we’ve posted. Let us know how fun they were … or weren’t. We want to hear it ALL!
Just submit a review of the event you attended in the comment section below. We’ll make sure it gets posted. … and thanks!
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2012 Fall Family Fishing Festival
“Great event! Both kids received fishing rods and our older one also received a little tackle box with all the necessities. Great entertainment and live reptiles! Thanks for posting!” — Jamie C.
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Our Day at Westfield Brandon Mall
My 4-year-old and I headed down to Westfield Brandon this morning. Our first stop? The New Girl Summer Tour! I had expected there to be a lot of excitement around a bus tour designed to hype a popular comedy show, so this was going to be the “Mommy” part of our Momma-Daughter day. When we arrived at the bus, the atmosphere was subdued, with people waiting in line to toss ping pong balls into jugs. There were T-shirts neatly folded on a table; I didn’t see any of Jess’ signature glasses and nobody was handing out cool New Girl swag. I’m not really sure, but I think you needed to get a ball into one of the jugs to get a T-shirt. Given it was so hot, we opted not to wait in line to play the game, but we did pose for the photo op:
Next, we headed inside to check out Westfield Brandon’s new look for the WFamily Playhouse. It was clean and tidy with lots of books in the bookshelves, which my daughter enjoyed looking through. The sectional sofa is low and soft so even little kids can lounge comfortably, but it was just as comfortable for parents, too. Tables are available for eating a snack, and there is a microwave for guests to use. In the back is a nursing room with private seating areas, and a family restroom. The TV was playing Nick, so it was tween shows … not anything to interest my 4-year-old, but older children were interested. If you are looking for a quiet place the power down, have a snack and read a book, this is the place!
Our third stop at Westfield Brandon was to check out the new Sesame Street Safari of Fun play area, which will officially open on July 13. Honestly, I had expected it to be under construction, but it’s completely done and IT’S BEAUTIFUL! Now, we can’t wait for the Grand Opening Celebration!
Our Momma-daughter day at Westfield Brandon concluded with lunch at Pholicious. My daughter LOVED the veggie noodle soup, I had beef noodle soup, and we shared a strawberry smoothie — YUM! The smoothie came with Mochi at the bottom and a wide straw to suck them up through, which was a lot of fun 
And the soup is served with a side dish of extras — mint, lemon, bean sprouts and jalapeño pepper slices — so you can personalize your entrée to your own taste, and a set of soup spoon, fork and chop sticks so you can eat it however you like. Plus, you get to sit at a counter and see everything happening behind-the scenes. It made for a very fun lunch for a 4-year-old! If you haven’t ever tried it, you might want to check it out sometime.
All in all, we both had a super day at Westfield Brandon!
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Circus Florida Festival 2012
We attended the Monday afternoon show, and both my two-year-old and my husband sat there with their mouths agape. This is a wonderful, unpretentious and affordable showcase. The performers are masters of their craft, particularly the woman with the Friesian stallions. Everyone was very friendly! It was announced during the event that this circus will be around the first weekend in June, too! Perfect “first time” circus for kids. We paid $18 per person for the VIP box seats and it was well worth the money because we were as close as you could get to the circus ring. — Darla
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John LeVique Pirate Days 2012
I’m so glad we made the trip over for this event, as we had a surprisingly fun time doing the family treasure hunt today! It was a lot harder that we expected, meaning that you actually had to figure out which stores to visit based on the clues … and there were 32 of them! But each place had a really cool “trinket” to hand out — a refillable fountain drink, a popsicle, a bear key chain that changes color in the sun, sharks teeth, tub toy boat, Pirate’s Gold Honey, rung pops, and much more! — which kept our 4-year-old interested (she kept wondering what she’d get at the next place) while her Dad and I figured out the clue for where to go next. We literally put in a full day to complete the hunt, but we did it. That kept us moving around the event area all day long and made the event extra interesting; it also kept us moving in and out of stores, so we didn’t really notice the heat until late in the day. BTW, if you finish the hunt and turn in your completed sheet, you will be entered into a drawing, which will take place at the end of the day on Sunday.
If you go … pick up your treasure hunt map and bag at “The Alligator Attraction,” which is located upstairs in the Village. The hunt continues on Sunday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at which time they’ll do the drawing.
If my daughter had to pick a favorite part of the event, it would be the live Mermaid at the Bell Tower (Saturday & Sunday). That was quite unique, and the kids really loved it. That we ran into some of my daughters friends there, only made it better! For my husband, the best part of the event was probably the pirate battle on the water (Saturday only). And for me, it was definitely the family treasure hunt (Saturday & Sunday).
There were also pirates wandering everywhere around the event, fencing shows (and for a couple bucks kids could participate), pirate stilt walkers, a parrot that heckled people as you walked by, a fire show, and more.
Our daughter also participated in the Children’s Costume Contest (Saturday only), where all kids who participated received beads and a goody bag, which contained a pirate flag kite, a bunch of monkeys (which she loves!), and a FREE kids meal at The Friendly Fish restaurant. (Unfortunately, we had just finished eating there, but we’ll use it another time; Their corn fritters were delicious!) The kids who won the costume contest scored tricycles and bicycles … Wow! I guess we need to work on her costume for next year!
Overall, the event was a lot of fun, and we’ll definitely plan on attending next year!
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Fun Was Had By All!
Thankfully the rain held off until this afternoon so that we could enjoy the Northdale Family Fun Fest. This is our third year attending this festival, and it was just as much fun as we remember! We started out the day with a McDonald’s Fruit and Yogurt parfait and a sweet tea before the parade began. We sampled a variety of foods from local restaurants, including meatball sliders from O’Brien’s Irish Pub, chocolate and blueberry cupcakes from Cuppy’s Cakes, strawberry rhubarb pie from The Village Inn, and strawberry smoothies from Smoothie King. Our daughter enjoyed most the youth music groups that performed, bouncing in the bounce house, and the cool swirl balloon she received at one of the vendor booths — oh, and the Pirate Booty from Publix! There was also a fun bike course for kids, where they could earn a complimentary bicycle helmet. Kids could throw a pot and play games in the back field, and mascots like Plato the Publixasaurus, Tony the Tiger and Bimbo the Bear roamed the crowd taking photos with children.
From there we headed south to the WestShore Plaza Earth Day Celebration. This one was new to us, and hopefully they will host this event next year because it was so much fun! Fritzy from Fritzy Brothers One-Man Circus kept everyone — adults and kids alike — in stitches, as he balanced on his Earth ball, performed on his unicycle, or made balloon sculptures for the kids. All kids got to paint a terra cotta pot, then fill it with dirt and plant a seed. They then colored a paper bag to take it home in. The Chick-fil-A Cow was there greeting parents and children, and at one point the Cow and Fritzy on his Earth ball played “Chicken,” which was hilarious. Chick-fil-A also had dirt sundaes for all the kids, and there was a face painter who painted a beautiful pink and purple rainbow on my daughter’s arm.
Thanks to the Northdale Community, WestShore Plaza and Chick-fil-A, WestShore Plaza for a really super family day!
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Happy Egg Hunting!
We spent the better part of the day going from egg hunt to egg hunt, beginning with the Publix at Apex Easter Egg Hunt. This was my favorite … it was well organized by ages (each age group had a designated part of the store, and the little ones were brought in first, with all groups beginning at the same time), a good number of eggs contained slips for special prizes, each child received a cute (and heavy!) bunny goody bag filled with candy and chocolates, and there was even a light breakfast for us early risers! Never having done this egg hunt before, my daughter and I weren’t sure what to do, but we were happy to find that it was all very well organized. It was a great, relaxed egg hunt to start the day with. My daughter enjoyed her apple, and I appreciated the coffee! Thanks so much, Publix at Apex!
Our next stop was Sweetbay Supermarket’s “Speggtacular Easter Egg Hunt” which is always fun for the kids. We’ve attended this one last year, and it was just as good this year! The Easter Bunny was there taking pictures with the kids. Eggs were hidden all around the perimeter of the store, filled with little chocolates and other candies. The eggs are plentiful, and all the kids came back with their baskets loaded. There is also a Golden Egg, which a friend of ours was lucky enough to find this year.
We ended our egg hunts with the HOP Adopt-a-Thon & Egg Hunt at the Hillsborough County Animal Services. This one was very disorganized, which was frustrating for the parents. The area for the little ones was very small, so the children who filed in last got only one or two eggs, and there were lots of tears. We were promised another egg hunt, but it was unclear if it would actually happen and when. Apparently, a second egg hunt did take place, but we missed it. However, what I particularly liked about this event was that the few eggs our kids did get contained small toys and pennies, which the kids really got excited about! The big kid egg hunt took place in a larger field and included Golden Eggs, and the eggs were hidden under a bed of straw that kids had to pick through making it more of a hunt, which was interesting albeit a bit chaotic. There were also activities to entertain the kids, like freeze dance contests and other fun competitive activities that would allow kids a chance to win prizes. And of course, there were so many sweet dogs to pet, which is why we chose to attend this event in the first place.
Overall, we all had a super day!
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Wesley Chapel Chamber Health & Wellness Festival 2012
Note to event hosts: Please, please, please give us parents a “heads up” (on your event flyer) that children’s activities require a fee when the rest of the event is free!
When I’m attending a free event, I don’t expect to be blindsided with “that will be $5″ after I tell my daughter she can go on the bouncey slide. Granted, it would allow her to play on the slide all day, and they would accept credit cards. Had it been only $1-2, I probably would have caved, but honestly, the cool unicorn balloon and a chance to pick a duck was enough for my 4-year-old to tell me she had a good time.
Overall, we had a very nice Mommy-daughter morning at the Health & Wellness Festival! It was a lot of fun talking with everyone at the various booths, my daughter got to color (which she loves to do) and throw some bean bags, and we spent some time in the children’s play area. It was a beautiful morning for being outdoors, and we appreciate The Shops at Wiregrass hosting such a nice event!
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My son at Christmas Lane
We waited to go on a night Santa would be there so my son could let Santa know what he wanted for Christmas. The line to Santa moved very quickly and he got a ball after his visit. It was sweet. After visitng Santa, we made our way over to the train ride. The train circled the track 3 times so the waiting in that line took slightly longer. As we started on our way again, we made it just in time for the “snow” to fall. I think the “snow” was the signal that the show was about to begin. It may have been just one woman singing Christmas carols but it was awesome that she included the crowd of kids in front of her. My son “helped” sing The Twelve Days of Christmas. He got to sing, “Two Turtle Doves” everytime the song called for it. It was adorable!
We had so much fun that we are adding this event to our yearly traditions.
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These are our own kids dressed for the Green Halloween Costume Contest.
We look forward to Green Halloween (hosted by Divine Events) every year! We love the healthy treats (and that our kids love them, too), and the kids have lots of fun parading through Whole Foods Market collecting goodies like yummy bakery creations, milk, pears and more.
As the children arrived at the event this year, they each received a paper bag filled with Surf Sweets Gummy Bears, Stretch Island Fruit Co. fruit leather, a piece of Endangered Species Chocolate, and more, which they devoured while waiting to trick-or-treat. Our costume parade through the store was led by a friendly witch; sadly, we got separated from the rest of the parade just before the last station because the kids were so interested in eating their treats. However, we did manage to find our way, and the kids got a special jelly bean treat!
And added activity this year was the carved pumpkin contest. Each department had a carved pumpkin, and as you paraded through the store, you could hunt for each department’s masterpiece. It was hard to choose a favorite because they were all so well done, but my vote went to the one carved to look like an oyster with a pearl inside. This was a fun addition to the event because the kids had to hunt to find them all!
After trick-or-treating, we headed outside where the kids were treated to rulers, EnviroKidz Organic Crispy Rice Bars, and homemade treats from Wholesome Tummies, and were able to play in a little obstacle course set up by Stretch-n-Grow. Honest Kids Organic Juices kept them hydrated, as well as Moms and Dads!
The event culminated in the Green Halloween Costume Contest, for which there were quite a few participants this year. There were a lot of really super costumes, and the kids had fun showing off their costumes to the judges.
It was another super year at Green Halloween! Can’t wait until next year!
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Online Storytime by Barnes and Nobles
“We’ve watched the Llama Llama Home with Mama about 5 times since yesterday. All kinds of great things on the site! LOVE IT!” — Colleen M.
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Tampa Bay International Curry Festival 2011
“The curry festival was a complete & total disaster — they charged $10/person and $5 to park. It was just hawker stalls, only 1 Vietnamese stall offered information, great advice, a taste & explanations. The rest of it was a total waste of time. I will NOT go back next year!!” — Seema A.
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Chick-fil-A @ WestShore Plaza Mall 35th Anniversary Celebration
We had a surprisingly good time in the WestShore Mall Food Court celebrating this Chick-fil-A’s anniversary! They had a section of seats separated out with balloon centerpieces on every table. They were painting faces and had cow coloring sheets and crayons for the children. We all got to enjoy samples of their peach shake, and my husband got excited every time they got to 35 orders and cow bells rang out to announce another FREE meal! The Chick-fil-A cow greeted guests, took pictures with kids, and handed out hats. A staff person helped guests with condiments, and my daughter got a stuffed Chick-fil-A cow. It was probably the best time I ever had eating in a mall food court! Congratulations Chick-fil-A @ WestShore!
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WestShore Plaza Mall Play Area Grand Re-Opening
Now, this was a GRAND OPENING! What an amazing time! First, the kids were welcomed with cool sand pails filled with goodies for the kids and coupons for Mom & Dad. The sand pails, shovels and sunglasses went along with the beach theme of the completely revamped play area sporting a cool sand castle slide. There were three crafts for the kids to make, temporary tattoos, face painting and a coloring contest at Bo’s Concept located by the play area, and story time. Adding to the festive atmosphere was steel drum music, and the Chick-fil-A Cow was there with hats and fruit cups for the kids. They had given everyone a drawing ticket upon arriving, so we checked our number against the many winning numbers on the board; although we were not winners, my daughter got a gift bag with a rubber fish and two Dum-Dum lollipops — just as good as winning, in my book! We were there until 1 p.m. because both my daughter and I were having such a great time! Kudos to WestShore Plaza!
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Lowe’s Build & Grow Workshops
We love Lowe’s Build & Grow Workshops and try to attend as many of them as possible. At our closest Lowe’s store, we know to get there promptly at 10 a.m. on days that they are making something particularly cool, like a police cruiser, so you don’t miss out on getting one. Nobody comes with a printout from their online sign-up because having a reservation does not guarantee you a project, and there is no list of kids signed up when you get there. It’s first-come, first served. And we are always prompt to arrive at 10 a.m. because even then, you can walk into a room in full swing and not a chair to be had.
So, when we found ourselves in another part of town on Saturday morning for the Whole Foods Customer Appreciation Weekend, we didn’t think anything of heading to the closest Lowe’s to make the Kid’s Build & Grow Clinic at 10 a.m. Unlike our Lowe’s, however, this one not only kept a list of kids signed up on the internet for the clinic, but if your child’s name was not on the list, they would have to sit there until everyone who did sign up arrived to claim their police cruiser kit, or the event time ended — whichever came first. There were, apparently, no extras for walk-ins.
Another Dad at the event confirmed that they had come without their sign-up sheet one week and were turned away, so we were ready to leave ourselves when an employee brought out a box of leftover projects from other weeks, for those of us without reservations, to pick through. So, if you were a good, diligent parent and had signed up your child ahead of time and brought your reservation printout with the correct Lowe’s store number on it, your child got to make the spiffy cruiser. But if you were not one of those parents, your child got to make a leftover. Well, it was better than leaving without your kid getting to make anything at all.
So, I am letting you know this so other parents don’t get caught out the same way. Don’t think that wherever you are, you can just go into any Lowe’s for their Build & Grow Clinic and expect that your child will be welcomed. — Bill
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Back-to-School Care Fair
“I enjoyed this very much. I volunteered there and it was a great joy to see the kids smiling faces!” — Kayla
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Gymboree In Your Jammies
My daughter and I just got home from the Gymboree Pajama Party, and it was so much fun! They had stuffed animals and musical instruments ties around play equipment throughout the play area, so discovering them all was like a scavenger hunt for a 3-year-old. After some playtime, we all gathered around to listen to Llama Llama Red Pajama before heading off for more play. Our next activity was a Freeze Dance, and everyone got involved. The fun was still going on when we left! Good job, Gymboree!
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Target $2 Tuesday at Glazer Children’s Museum (6/7/11) Not Worth the Wait
We went to the June Target $2 Tuesday, and the line was through the lobby and café, out the door and around the building — and we got there just after 2 p.m. Very disappointing. Fortunately, we’d been able to enjoy the museum in April and May, because we never got inside today. With toddlers and a baby in tow, it just wasn’t practical to wait in line, so we played in the park fountain and later enjoyed the Fit Kids Playground “Playin’ in the Park” event instead. The kids love the water fountains, activities and snacks, so it was a fun day with the kids anyway. We have decided to postpone another trip to Glazer Children’s Museum until after school begins again.
To add to the excitement of the day, though, was the fire in the parking garage adjacent. We were treated to a symphony of emergency sirens and lights as smoke rose from the structure. We are waiting to watch the news to find out the circumstances of the incident, but it caused a lot of nervous talk at the event as most people had parked their cars in that garage.
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We enjoyed a nice lunch and cold drinks, compliments of Lennar Homes.
5 Stars for Lennar Home’s Family Fun Day at Live Oak!
This event turned out to be a very happy surprise! We had been a bit skeptical when we first struck out, but Lennar Homes does things right, and we are so glad we attended. Upon arriving, my daughter immediately jumped into the bounce house/slide, and after several times down the slide, we were finally able to lure her onto other things with the promise of returning.
They had a station with juice bags for the kids (they had a good variety of flavors), and the guy working the station put their juice bag in a really nice Lennar logo pail along with a logo water gun. Then we headed over to the tent, where centerpieces were pails with a variety of bagged chips and Cracker Jacks. It was my 3-year-old’s first experience eating Cracker Jacks and getting the “surprise” out of the bag, which brought back memories of our own childhoods. The tent also sheltered a nice buffet table with sweet tea, lemonade or water, hamburgers, mini corn dogs, and brownies. We were able to enjoy a nice, light lunch before heading back to the bouncey slide.
You could ride the train as many times as you liked.
A train ride took you down the street and back, past residents lounging in their driveways watching the festivities. You could ride as many times as you liked; we went on twice. Afterward, we headed into the model homes to cool down. The first house had a mermaid-theme bedroom, which my daughter really took to. The second house offered a look “inside” the walls of the home, a chance to climb up and look into the attic, and a place where you can see under the floor boards. There were also poster board call-outs throughout the home giving you facts about the building methods and materials. It really was very interesting!
After about 20 minutes checking out every mermaid in the mermaid bedroom again, we finally made it back outside for a balloon and a couple more times down the slide before leaving. They also had face painting, for those who wanted it; the woman did beautiful work with sparkles even.
Overall, it was a super afternoon! Thanks, Lennar Homes!
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My daughter making pizza in the "restaurant"
Pleasantly Surprised by Glazer Children’s Museum’s Target Two Buck Tuesdays
I had been hesitant to bring my daughter down to Glazer Children’s Museum after hearing about lines to get in that wrap around the building. But when they changed from free admission to $2 pp admission on the first Tuesday or every month, and it started two hours earlier (before kids got out of school), I decided to give it a try in April. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised when we just walked right in! We returned to do it again in May, and this time we had a short line to wait through, but it wasn’t even to the door. The museum was busy, but the kids had no problem being able to play with anything and everything. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, and we’re looking forward to going again!
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A Big Thumbs Up for Fit Kids Playground!
Fit Kids Playground is also the 1st Tuesday of every month, from 4-7 p.m. After spending time in Glazer Children’s Museum for their Target Two Buck Tuesday (2-7 p.m.), we head on out to run around at Fit Kids Playground in Curtis Hixon Park just outside the museum. It’s a nice park with large open grassy space overlooking the Hillsborough River and historic Plant Hall on the University of Tampa campus. Fit Kids provides hoola hoops, scarves, balls, bubbles and music for families to enjoy while spending time together outside.
Families can play together with hoola hoops, balls, scarves, bubbles and more.
The event also features a monthly sponsor who provides a free snack for participants. In April, we enjoyed bags of Pirate Booty (my daugher’s favorite snack!), and in May Wholefoods provided delicious fruit skewers and bags of sunflower seeds and candied nuts — yum!
The playground also boasts a large water fountain to keep everyone cooled off. Being so hot, in May the kids spent most of their time playing with balls in the fountain. Fit Kids Playground topped off a really super day for my daughter and me! It’s a great idea, and we can’t wait for next month!
We attended the ‘It’s PURSEonal Carnival’ at the Seal Swim School on Dale Mabry.
We had a great time even though we didn’t get there until 5:30 pm. They still had a lot going on and everyone was still in good spirits about the whole event. It was great that they were collecting purses for The Spring of Tampa Bay, Inc. that helps women find safety from domestic violence. The kids had lots of fun playing games, watching a magician, bouncing in the bounce house, and eating the yummy food.
I would definately go back to this place. I give it 5 stars
I started going to a few of these events with my sis and nephew and it was a ton of fun! A lot of the events are great for children but there is a ton of free stuff for the adults as well, and aunts! One event was the mother’s day at the Brandon Town Center where The Body Shop was giving away free makeovers and samples! I got some great tips and free 50ml body butter! TCBY was also giving away free cup for moms, but you needed to have a print out from the internet, but like most women have a good looking kid and bat your eyes and you get it any who, thanks TCBY! Oh and Earth Day my sis and I went to the mall and hit up Starbucks five times for the free coffee and tea. We also got a great recycle bag from the Disney store which I use all the time for shopping! Everything was a ton of fun and got lots of free stuff, I give everything five stars!
We were lucky enough to have a Krispy Kreme store close to us and received a FREE doughnut of choice on National Doughnut Day. We visited the Kennedy location around 3pm. It was not crowded at all. I’m not sure if all stores were participating but that store was also offering a Buy One, Get One FREE coffee chiller, iced coffee, or frozen fruit drink.
So all in all, we got 3 different doughnuts and 2 large coffee chillers for $3.74. At the end, my 3 year old son even received a free hat.
We plan on making this an annual event.
We always have a great time going to Lowe’s build and grow workshop, and Home Depot’s kids workshop. It can be a little crowded sometimes but it is well worth it. The kids get a woodworking apron and safety glasses to keep and they provide a nice variety of wood toys and crafts. Sometimes the kits come with stickers to put on , but you can opt to paint them at home. Its a great first introduction to working with real tools for young ones. My son still plays with all the things he has made and is enthusiastic to go again. It only takes a short amount of time (depending on how much momy and dady help) and one of those free things we love to do. I would recomend it to any parent wether they have boys or girls.
We had a really good time tonight at the Land O Lakes Rec Center for their annual Halloween event. It was a really fun time and stress free. They had ALOT of volunteers this year that just went above and beyond. This has been an annual tradition for us and thus far, I think this one has ranked the best:)
Ikea Tampa Kids’ Academy ROCKED!
I am a mother of 3 and this appealed to ALL 3 of my children ages 9,6,and 3. The craft was simple and useful. Each child got an Academy tshirt. They each got a name tag and to top it off each child got a FREE kids meal! For all 4 of us to eat cost me a total of just over $6! You can’t beat that! The whole event is FREE! IKEA did an awesome job with this and we are very thankful….oh and it gave me an extra reason to go and shop;)
I check your post daily. Your writing style is witty, keep it up!